9/2

New Urbanism in the News

Two articles highlight successful efforts to revitalize traditional downtowns. In both Holland, Michigan, and Atlanta, Georgia, more people are choosing a downtown lifestyle.

Walking, Biking Dangerous to Health

Driving maybe making us fat, warming the planet, and polluting the air but research shows that the U.S. is a particularly dangerous place to walk or bike. According to the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health, cyclists and pedestrians in the United States were two to six times more likely to be killed than their German or Dutch counterparts. Per kilometer traveled, U.S. pedestrians were 23 times more likely to get killed than the occupants of a car, while bicyclists were 12 times more likely to be killed. Don't use dangerous conditions as an excuse though, one study found the health benefits from cycling exceeded the risks 10-to-1. Read more about it.

8/29

The Human Cost of Sprawl: Six Pounds

In the first comprehensive examination of whether suburbs spreading across the U.S. landscape are affecting Americans' health, researchers studied more than 200,000 people in 448 counties, producing the first concrete evidence supporting suspicions that sprawl aggravates the nation's growing weight crisis in addition to affecting the environment. Read the Reuter's report.

EPA Won't Regulate Auto Emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency said Congress did not give it the power to declare carbon dioxide from autos a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. Many scientists link the heat-trapping gases to rising Earth temperatures. Read more in the Washington Post.

8/28

Green Roofs Galore

Today's Washington Post tracks the rise of green roofs here and in Europe. Read about it.

Baja Humbug?

A coalition of environmentalists, business officials, and community leaders say the Mexican government's new tourism project aimed at building and expanding more than 20 marinas along the Baja California peninsula is poorly planned. They charge the government is underestimating the environmental impact and overestimating the financial gain. Beefing up the allegations is a study by EDAW that found the Mexican government's estimations of projected use were exaggerated. Find the report on Environmental News Network.

8/27

A Moveable Farm

City Farm, a project of The Resource Center in Chicago, showcases urban farming as a viable community and economic development strategy enriching communities with both nutrition and education while beautifying vacant lots. A one-acre farm would employ three people from the neighborhood, each making $20,000 to $23,000 a year. The farms are only temporary, though; as the city comes up with uses for the land, the farms have to move.

Read more.

8/26

Developers Go Green to Get Green

According to Canada's National Post, "inspired landscaping" has become an increasingly important tool in marketing new urban developments. Depending on a development's size and price points, developers can easily spend $1 million to $2 million on sophisticated urban gardens both at street level and on rooftops.

Read more about it.

8/25

Unmoved by Drought Potential, Phoenix Residents Enjoy Cheap Water

Phoenix, Arizona, isn't as vulnerable as some cities to running out of water. Multiple sources supply the metropolitan area of about 3 million people with water costing 20% less than the nationwide average. Tickets can be issued if lawns are allowed to die, and ubiquitous irrigation measures, pools, and fountains suggest that water conservation enjoys no priority for the desert community. Dallas Reigle, senior hydrologist with the Salt River Project, one of the city's water suppliers, notes, "The irony is that a city in the desert in the middle of one of the meanest droughts we have ever had is telling a citizen he has to water his land."

Read the Los Angeles Times story.

8/22

Private/Public Partnerships for Local Parks

John Mastenbrook, a Fairfax County, Virginia, resident and longtime park advocate, successfully lobbied officials to match volunteer resources with county funds to spruce up county parks. So far, nearly 40 county park projects have benefited from a grant program that bears his name. Read more about it. Visit the Fairfax County Park Authority to find out how the grant program works.

8/21

Dung Derails Deer

Faced with a spate of wild deer deaths along a stretch of railroad tracks, Japanese officials found the ideal solution. After consultation with forestry experts, lion dung was spread along the tracks. No further deer incidents have been reported, but the plan cannot be implemented in more heavily inhabited areas. The strong scent makes such application highly inadvisable. Read more.

EPA and Atrazine

An environmental group sued the government yesterday to restrict use of the popular weedkiller atrazine, contending it harms endangered species in the Chesapeake Bay and waterways in the Midwest and South.

Banned in several European countries, atrazine is one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States. Between 60 and 70 million pounds of atrazine are applied annually to fields, golf courses, and lawns. EPA has found widespread atrazine contamination in U.S. waterways, and concluded that atrazine may harm endangered fish, reptiles, amphibians, mussels, and the aquatic plant life that provides habitat for endangered species. Atrazine also contaminates drinking water and may harm people as well. More than 1 million Americans drink from water supplies that are contaminated with atrazine at levels higher than EPA's drinking water standard. NRDC filed a petition in June 2002 asking EPA to ban use of atrazine.

EPA is not commenting on the suit yet. Review of the risks of atrazine and the agency's decision on NRDC's petition are due to be issued this fall. A potential outcome of this kind of review is the cancellation of a pesticideRead more on ENN..

8/20

EPA Agrees to Park Pollution Abatement Rules

In a court settlement with Environmental Defense of New York, the Environmental Protection Agency agreed yesterday to propose new rules by April 2004 and put them into effect a year later to reduce air pollution in national parks and wilderness areas. The settlement requires U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approval after a public comment period. Read the Washington Post report.

Greening Ethnic Restaurants (GER) reaches out to Indian and other Asian eateries with little environmental knowledge and transforms them into “green” enterprises. Considering that restaurants consume more energy per square foot than any other industry, and adding in the difficulty of approaching overworked restaurant owners who rarely speak fluent English, the task seems nearly impossible. Read how the Thimmakka program works.

8/19

New Technology Promises Clean Dirt

A new soil cleansing technology works onsite, selectively removing and recovering heavy metal pollutants and replacing the cleaned soil. An added plus, the recovered heavy metals are recyclable, theoretically eliminating the risk of secondary pollution. The Japanese textile company Teijin Limited developed the process.

Read more about it on EarthVision Environmental News.

8/18

President Promotes Forest Plan, Parks Improvements

Over the weekend, President Bush urged Congress to pass his plan to prevent catastrophic wildfires. Bush also promoted his nearly $2.9 billion commitment to improving national parks, calling on Congress to free up a total of $5 billion over 5 years.
Read the Reuters report.

CAD Improvements Around the Corner

The latest developments in CAD technology improve navigation through virtual environments.
Read more about it.